Case Mod - In Progress BS Mods (BOBDBONE)- Thermaltake Level 10 GT/SS

Small update -



I added a spring to the hard drive locking mechanism I made. That way when you push up on the button it springs back down.





And then I painted it to match, even though you'll never be able to see it. It looks better in my head though so it won't drive me crazy.





I also added a spring to the door frame. The door will pop open when you hit the button.

 

Since the acrylic door is tinted but still see-through I decided to black out some areas from behind. This way it will block out everything except what will look like a couple window areas. So when the lights are on inside it will just look like a couple windows are in the door.


I just had to cut the paper and peel it off to expose the areas I will paint. I marked it out and gave the corners a radius.




Then I peel off the paper and hit it with some adhesion promoter and then paint.



This shot is actually before I paint it. I'll update the pic when the paint is dry and I can peel the paper off.


I have the top/front panel primed and wet sanded and I will paint it in the morning.

 

Inside of the door came out nice. I forgot to take a pic of it but it looks nice. lol

I painted the top/front piece finally! It came out great too. It's so hard to capture black surfaces with a camera but here are a few shots. I still need to polish everything up but the paint has to cure a little.

Once I pull the paper off the door it will all come together.

I'm about 95% done.











Here was the original plan so you can see I followed it pretty closely.





I am not sure I want the huge Tt on the front now. I'm rolling around a few other options that might look a little better. We'll see.

 

I will be doing something cool with some lighting on the upper right side. But the big giant Tt will be too much I think.


Anyways, I got a lot done tonight.


I wet sanded and rubbed out all the paint. I managed to screw up a couple spots by rubbing through the paint and into the primer. So it'll need a little touch up. It won't be a huge deal luckily.

I peeled the paper off the door and put everything in place too.


Besides the touch up and the extras I'm going to do with the logo/lighting I'm about done.


So after the sanding comes the rubbing and here's the start - a rubbing compound followed by some polish -




After just a little rubbing -




And after a little more rubbing -




This is a messy operation and I'm doing it in my storage room so it's no big deal but if you ever decide to do it too, make sure you throw some plastic or something down.



I peeled the paper off the door and you can see what I was doing when I painted the backside of the door now. I made it so there would be 2 windows basically.





It also helped to hide the areas that I mounted the door latch plate and the hinges.

So now here are the pics of it together -

























It's a real bitch trying to take good pics of these black cases. The camera can't pick up any definiton. Plus my lighting sucks.


I still have to mount the fan controller into the opening that's in the front panel and I'm going to put a power supply in it to hook up the lights.

 

Very nice work Bob! I really like the design too, huge improvement over factory design, esp the side panel

 

I did all the paint touch up.

I mounted the front controls that used to be in the top. I had milled a recess in the back side of the front panel so it would sit inside the pocket. This allowed me to just glue it in place with hot melt.




Easy enough and looks great.





I am using a piece of mirrored acrylic to spice things up a little. I am putting the Thermaltake logo on it and it will be visible with the door shut. This will look better that the giant Tt on the side. I will have it lit up as well so it will be easy to see behind that 1/2" thick acrylic door.





Next is to work out some lighting. I have it started but I'll save it for the next update.


I plugged in a power supply and hooked up the fans to check the lighting out and it looks sweet!

I was able to get a few better pictures too. I had to manually set the camera for a low light condition so it would pick up the dark corners and the ribs. It shows a little more detail I think.











I managed to lose the power button somewhere :? I don't know how. I keep everything in zip-lock bags separated out but it's gone! I dunno.

I might add a vandal switch.

Now I just have to finish the lighting for the mirror and I might change out the case feet. I used some feet from a home stereo receiver that I was junking but I think I need to call MNPCTech instead. Get me some knurled ones.

 

I put the stock feet back on temporarily and ordered a new power switch from MNPCTECH. It will fit perfectly in the stock location.


I have been playing with the camera trying to get better pictures but not much changes. Then I had an idea to take it outside since the sun was out a little. It worked much better.

The more I look at this case the more I really like it. It just looks sexy.


So here are a bunch of random pics outside. I wiped it down but I didn't clean it 100% since I'm still working on it.

Enjoy.

 

Screw the case, I want more pictures of that SS Chevelle

 

Small update.

Got my power switch I ordered from MNPCTECH. I found extra goodies in the box too....hmmm Someone must be looking out for me?



I drilled out the factory hole and popped it in. Piece of cake. It was a close fit but it will work.








I am working on getting the vinyl decal done for the window. You'll like it I think.


I worked a little more on the mirror piece. I thought I would try a logo on the mirror but I did it by painting the rest of the mirror. And for a little contrast I used a textured paint.

If I keep this it will have LED lighting hidden into the piece of C channel that's attached to the top. It would shine down the front making it viewable behind the acrylic door.











I think with a little lighting it could look cool.

 

I must admit I do like it, the only thing that for me sits out of place with this is the front UBS / Switches panel. For me to get this to fit in I would have liked to have seen this become stealthed or a cover which made the whole front look very clean.

All in all an excellent mod well done

 

Woah finally a GT10-mod that actually looks better than the original Good work, really loving what you've done to it.

 

Thanks guys.

I appreciate the compliments. I may be biased, but I too like it more than the factory look. Or maybe it would be a different model they could offer?

 

Juuust wondering... did you ever put any hardware into this beauty...?